Rated R - Running time: 1:48 - Released 12/4/98
It strikes me as strange and a little sad that movie producers are so bereft
of ideas that they must pay the rent by making copies of classic films with
no new creative input. Universal's new Psycho is not a re-interpretation.
I'm talking carbon copy. At least this is not quite as flagrantly
opportunistic as the recent practice of re-releasing the old goods in a
new wrapper.

Luckily, a talented cast was chosen by producer/director Gus Van Sant
(whose most notable project to date has been last year's Good
Will Hunting). While his Psycho can't look like more than
a reverent re-hash compared to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 version, it does
adequately well with the original script by Joseph Stefano, based on the
book by Robert Bloch. Van Sant's choice to use all the same camera angles,
cinematic elements, and music, while not a gutsy move, is certainly respectful
proof that Hitchcock's formula worked. The thing is, we don't need more
proof, so why do it? The answer is obvious: The execs at Universal want
new cars.

Since the script was exactly the same (with a few updates), we all know
the story: Marion Crane (Anne Heche), entrusted with her boss's money (now
$400,000) which she was supposed to deposit in the bank, skips town to join
her boyfriend Sam (Viggo Mortensen). On the way she stops at a quiet motel
run by Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn). Norman seems nice enough, but when Marion
overhears his domineering mother in the house behind the motel, berating
him for cozying up to the young woman, she senses something's wrong. She
finds out she's right when she gets murdered in the shower by a mysterious
woman with grey hair and a butcher knife.

When Marion's people back home start missing her, her sister Lila (Julianne
Moore) sends a private investigator (William H. Macy) to find her. But then
he disappears without a trace, so Lila and Sam go themselves. Finally
they unravel the deep, dark, unsettling secrets surrounding Norman Bates
and his mother. And incidentally, according to the date printed on the screen,
it's all going to go down this weekend.

It's surprising to note that this film, mostly well-acted, is somewhat
lacking on the technical side, which is what Hollywood usually does best
these days. The famous shower scene, with the dilated pupil and blood circling
the drain, is perhaps the least believable scene. The spinning close-up
of Heche's eye is effective, but the blood looks much more fake than the
chocolate syrup used in Hitchcock's black-and-white version. You can actually
see particles floating around as it goes down the drain, like they used
powdered tempera paint or something. And the moment where Marion is stabbed
looks jerky, like stop-motion animation. Perhaps Van Sant intended this,
to adhere to the constraints of 1960 special effects. But it just looks
dumb.

While Heche and Vaughn worked well together in this summer's Return To Paradise, their chemistry seems
a little off here. Maybe they were distracted by the ghost of Hitchcock
looking over their shoulders. But generally, the acting is sufficient, especially
by those two and Macy, who have the lion's share of the job.

Stylistically, Psycho is still scary and still engaging for the
fan of murder mysteries, and Bernard Herrmann's tense musical score is just
as effective as it was in 1960. But if you want the real thing, it's out
there, at your local video rental store. Look for the one with the name
"Hitchcock" on the cover. ***½